The quarterly blog carnival dedicated to blog contests, the Bloggy Giveaways, is going on this week.  I’m hosting 13 contests on my various blogs, so I thought I’d post all the links in case you’d like to enter to win some great prizes - from toys to T-shirts to books and more!

All of the following contests end on August 1st!

Contest on Women On Business

• Win a Copy of "Can This Elephant Curtsy on Cue?" by TV and Film Producer Danielle Weinstock

Contest on Brandcurve

• Win a CNN.com Headline T-shirt of Your Choice

Contests on The Disney Traveler

• Win a "Fodor’s Walt Disney World with Kids 2008" Guidebook
• Win a "PassPorter Walt Disney World Resort" 2007/2008 Guidebook

Contests on PlayLibrary

• Win a David Beckham Interactive Soccer Game
• Win a Tabletop Air Hockey Game from iPlay
• Win a Tabletop Pool Table from iPlay
• Win a Teddy Bear and Matching Child’s T-shirt from Scribbleprints.com
• Win a Child’s "Pre-School Rocks" T-Shirt
• Win an Eye Can Art Printmaking Kit
• Win an Eye Can Art Wax Drawing Kit
• Win an Eye Can Art Sumi-e Painting Kit
• Win a Crazy Fort

Good luck!

Women On Business is holding a contest as part of the Bloggy Giveaways that will run until Friday, August 1, 2008.  I’m giving away ONE copy of Danielle Weinstock’s new book for women in business, Can This Elephant Curtsy on Cue? Life Lessons Learned on a Film Set.

You can learn more about Danielle and her book in the guest post she wrote for Women On Business in June.  In Danielle’s book you’ll find advice on:

• Hiring, firing, and managing employees
• Working with difficult bosses
• Dealing with sexual harassment
• Maintaining your dignity and knowing when to say no
• Balancing work and family

Here’s how to enter into the contest for a chance to win a copy of Can This Elephant Curtsy on Cue?:

• Leave a comment on this post before 11:59pm Friday, August 1st (Eastern Time).  One comment per email address please.  U.S. residents only.
• Each comment will be entered into a drawing, and ONE winner will be selected randomly from those entries.
• The winner will be contacted via email, so please be sure you leave a valid email address in your comment.  Please leave your email address in the box under your name instead of in the comment section.
• The winner will be notified on August 2nd.  If the winner does not respond with his or her mailing address within 72 hours of the notification email being sent, he or she forfeits the prize and an alternate winner will be selected (same guidelines apply).   Once a prize is claimed, the winner will be announced on Women On Business.

Good luck!

Image: Amazon.com

Time for another round of Women’s Words Weekly where I take a look at what businesswomen bloggers were talking about during the previous week.

Kim Freedman at Catalyst Leadership Coaching tells us Where to Get Noticed where she shares an article to help you with your networking efforts from Jill Lublin, author of Get Noticed Get Referrals.

The HR Wench gives us Schooling Chumps: Ask HR Wench where she provides suggestions on what to do when a company you’re interviewing with treats you poorly.

Christine Banning at the SCORE Women’s Success Blog gives us Web Marketing: Driving Web Traffic where she provides seven helpful tips to drive traffic to your website.

Phyllis R. Neill at SheMentor’s Musings shares the Four Steps to Effectively Disciplining an Employee where she provides a detailed plan for addressing a problem with one of your employees.

Erika-Marie S. Geiss of theWAHMmagazine: From the Editor’s Desk brings us Issue 4 - Finally where she announces the release of the fourth issue of theWAHMmagazine - the Back to School issue.

According to a new report released by the Joint Economic Committee led by Senator Charles E. Schumer and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, equality is a problem not just as it relates to getting jobs, promotions and salaries but also in terms of job loss. 

The report, called "Equality in Job Loss: Women are Increasingly Vulnerable to Layoffs During Recessions," analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and found the following:

Continue reading »

I write marketing-related articles for Cox Communications’ Kudzu Business Success Center at Everyday Marketer.  Today, my latest article was published, and it provides a list of 10 sources for expert opinions and testimonials. 

Adding expert opinions and testimonials to your marketing materials and advertising campaigns can give your messages credibility and authority and can help differentiate your business from the competition.  Take a look at the list by following the link to the article on Everyday Marketing above then review your marketing messages to see where including an expert opinion or testimonial might add value and potentially boost sales and revenue.

SCORE, counselors to America’s small businesses, launched a new blog this month dedicated to helping women in business achieve success.  It’s authored by four primary female bloggers with diverse business backgrounds.  You can read the bloggers’ bios on the SCORE blog. 

Each woman brings great experience and wisdom to the table, so the SCORE Women’s Success Blog should be a great new addition to your blog travels!  For example, today’s post is called “Management: Best SCORE Advice” and shares several quotes and tips that any businesswoman can benefit from.

What do you think of the new SCORE Women’s Success Blog?

Whirlpool is holding a contest where the grand prize winner called the 2008 Whirlpool Mother of Invention Grant contest.  The prizes are:

• Overall Grand prize: $20,000 grant, a $3,000 stipend for a new home office and some Whirlpool appliances
• Traditional Category First prize: $7,000 grant and some Whirlpool appliances
• Traditional Category Second prize: $5,000 grant and some Whirlpool appliances
• Green Category First prize: $7,000 grant and some Whirlpool appliances
• Green Category Second prize: $5,000 grant and some Whirlpool appliances

According to the contest website, the green category is open to entries that meet one of the following criteria: minimize the impact on environmental resources, use recycled/natural materials or are an environmentally friendly product/service.

You can follow the link to enter the 2008 Whirlpool Mother of Invention Grant Contest and read the official rules.  The contest is open until July 31, 2008. 

Good luck!

Hat tip to Aruni at EntrepreMusings for news about this contest.

In a speech given at a fundraiser event in New York yesterday, Barack Obama made some comments about women that give hope to equal pay and more.  Here are some of the highlights from his speech according to a CNN article:

In speaking of his grandmother who worked her way from a secretarial position to become vice president of a bank, Obama said,

"I also saw how she ultimately hit a glass ceiling — how men no more qualified than she was kept moving up the corporate ladder ahead of her."

More quotes from Obama are below:

"As the son, grandson and husband of hard-working mothers, I don’t accept an America that makes women choose between their kids and their careers."

"We take it for granted that women are the backbone of our families, but we too often ignore the fact that women are also the backbone of our middle class. And we won’t truly have an economy that puts the needs of the middle class first until we ensure that when it comes to pay and benefits at work, women are treated like equal partners," he said, urging a commitment to equal pay for women."

He urged "standing up for paid leave, and paid sick leave, because no one should be punished for getting sick or dealing with a family crisis."

Who knows if Obama is elected President if he would follow through and make changes based on this speech, but at least the topics are being noticed and talked about.

What do you think?

Time for another round of Women’s Words Weekly where I take a look at what businesswomen bloggers were talking about during the previous week.

First this week I’m going to point you in the direction of a series Bridget Wright is writing at Leader Notes called 25 Things Leaders can do to Create a Better Organzation.  This is a series you’ll want to follow.  So far, Bridget has posted numbers 1-4:

1. Lead by Example
2. Lead by Following
3. Take Initiative
4. Develop Other Leaders

Shannon Cherry at Startup Spark gives us How Can I Take a Vacation When Running a Business? which is helpful to any woman working in business who has responsibilities that make it difficult to take time off.

Phyllis R. Neill at SheMentor’s Musings shares 3 Ways to Keep Stress in Check where she gives some great stree-reduction tips.

Elana Centor at Funny Business asks Why Not Tattoo Your Computer? where she discusses customizing your laptop with a laser etching or custom design to make sure it can’t be lost at the airport along with the 12,000 other laptops that go missing at U.S. airports each week.

Another company has joined the bandwagon and launched a new division to handle marketing and advertising to women.  Like WomenKind launched in November 2007 and The Kaleidoscope Group from Hoffman York launched in February 2008,  G23 from the Omnicom Group will devote its efforts to speaking directly to the female consumer audience.

According to The New York Times, G23 is being opened by senior members of Omnicom.  I have to say, at least a team of women is running this business unit, which is more than can be said of WomenKind and The Kaleidoscope Group.

So far I haven’t seen much come out of these new female-focused agency extensions.  Let’s hope the outputs are coming and these groups are more than just positive PR moves.  I’d like to see more press related to what each group is working on and learning as the units grow.

What do you think?

Hat tip to BizWomen.com for this story.